The Empire Bulldogs will square off against the Ringling Blue Devils at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Empire was handed a heart-breaking two-run defeat in their last contest, but they sure didn't let that happen against Velma-Alma on Monday. The Bulldogs never let the Comets get on the board and left with an 8-0 victory.
Bryce Shaver was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out ten over five innings pitched. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going a perfect 3-for-3 with four stolen bases, three runs, and one RBI. That's the most runs he has posted over his last nine matchups.
Francisco Garcia
| 03/30/26 vs Velma-Alma | 3 |
| 03/09/26 @ Apache | 2 |
| 03/06/26 vs Rush Springs | 2 |
| 03/26/26 @ Carnegie | 1 |
| 03/12/26 @ Waurika | 1 |
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Francisco Garcia, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI, one run, and one double. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high. Kadin Vargas also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen bases of the season.
Meanwhile, Ringling made easy work of Temple on Monday and carried off a 16-6 win.
Empire is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight games. That somehow still isn't as good as their 13-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.4 runs on average over those games. As for Ringling, their record is now 6-4.
Empire came out on top in a nail-biter against Ringling in their previous matchup back in April of 2021, sneaking past 1-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Bulldogs since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
